"Oprah Goes Vegan" Watch Party

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Anna Peraino

What: "Oprah Went Vegan" watch party hosted by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Where: Harvey's Restaurant, San Francisco, CA

When: February 1, 2011

Why: Oprah going vegan = big reason to celebrate

The Scoop: So I guess you could say Oprah is a pretty big deal, right? Right. So then is it an even bigger deal when Oprah (and almost 400 of her staffers) go vegan for a week and devote an entire episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show to it? You bet your Tofurky. When VN asked fellow Editorial Assistant Alexandra and I to attend a watch party, we said yes faster than one of Oprah's Favorite Things sells out during the holidays. A party hosted by lovely VN columnist Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, complete with tasty bites from Local Love and Colleen's own vegan recipes served up by the Harvey's kitchen? Don't mind if I do!

Mushroom caps with walnut paté from Local Love

The place was packed with excited vegan viewers. I heard one dejected onlooker, when finding every seat taken, say "This must be what I get for eating meat!" Watching was a delight--cheers, boos, and laughter erupted throughout, the most exciting of which was the hooplah surrounding Oprah's announcement of Meatless Mondays at Harpo. (Um, awesome?!) During commercials there was a HUGE raffle, with everything from t-shirts to cooking classes. Alexandra and I had our eyes on the Cinnaholic gift certificates but unfortunately fell short.

Alexandra and some vegan viewers

The watch party and the episode were both a huge success. I mean, we ended the evening with free cookies from Eat Pastry, including one called chocoholic chunk which tasted like brownie batter. Need I say more? Actually, yes I do: Oprah should go vegan more often.

Veg Cooking with Tal Ronnen

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Kristen Haney

What: Vegetarian Cooking Workshop with Chef Tal Ronnen

Where: California Culinary Academy, San Francisco, Calif.
When: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Why: Because I'll go anywhere that involves over-sized Vita-Mixes and tasting samples.

The Scoop: I don't much consider myself a chef, unless baking vegan cookies and eating half of them when they come out of the oven makes me the next Eric Tucker. Luckily, as the only editorial assistant with a car, I had the opportunity to learn a thing or two from vegan chef Tal Ronnen when he stopped by San Francisco's California Culinary Academy for a vegetarian workshop. The man behind VN's 2009 Book of the Year, The Conscious Cook, Ronnen has worked with Oprah, creating recipes for her 21-day vegan cleanse, and catered Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's vegan wedding.

After applauding myself for arriving 10 minutes early, I spent the next 15 looking for parking and trying to find my way around the maze that is the CCA building. I eventually coerced a security guard into escorting me to the workshop room, scooted my way past the chef coats and little white hats, and finally plopped down onto a tiny red stool before turning my attention to Tal. Chef Ronnen started off with a brief presentation on vegetarian sources of protein. After discussing the comparative merits of the different "meat analogues"—tofu, tempeh, seitan, and (of course) Gardein—he launched into the food demonstration. But not before breaking out this bad boy:

Ronnen unveiling one freakin' big Vita-Mix

Here at VegNews we love Vita-Mixes more than we'd love our first-born children, so I was expecting a little more enthusiasm from the crowd when Ronnen broke out the biggest beauty of a Vita-Mix I have ever seen. I was the only one giddily clapping and leering at it, even after Ronnen explained that it was theirs to keep. They'll learn. Ronnen demonstrated that vegan cooking can be just as creative and flavorful as meat-based dishes—and proved his point by making a celery root soup with granny smith apples; artichoke ricotta tortellini with saffron cream sauce; and Gardein "chicken" scaloppini with shiitake-sake sauce, braised pea shoots, and crispy udon-noodle cakes.

Ronnen demonstrating how to prepare the udon cakes.

Ronnen interacted well with the crowd, which was primarily made up of meat-eating, meat-cooking chefs. He breezed through the meal preparations while fielding questions that ranged from thoughtful (how soy effects estrogen levels) to slightly ridiculous (if consuming eight pounds of quinoa was the only way to get adequate meatless protein). He was able to completely finish three of the menu items, and let everyone come up and have a taste. The response from the vegan-skeptics was fantastic. Everyone kept exclaiming "this is so good," and one guy tried to be sneaky, coming back for second and third helpings.

While I'm not entirely convinced that the chefs decided to eschew meat following Ronnen's workshop, they did leave more informed about how to cater to a growing vegan and vegetarian community with discerning palates. At least no one will be trying to fit eight pounds of quinoa on a plate. I hope.

Chef Tal at Candle 79

Who: VEGdaily Co-founder and Ecorazzi Senior Editor Michael Parrish DuDell

What: Four-course meal prepared by The Conscious Cook author Tal Ronnen.
Where: Candle 79, New York, NY
When: January 7, 2009
Why: Because the combination of Tal Ronnen’s food and Candle 79’s atmosphere are what dreams are made of!

The Scoop: It’s official: no one is ever allowed to call vegetarian food “boring” again! Last night I had the honor of spending the evening at Candle 79—an upscale vegan restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan—and sampling the many culinary talents of celebrated chef Tal Ronnen.

Ronnen's expertly planned menu

For those who aren’t familiar with Ronnen’s work, he is the man responsible for helping Oprah go vegan for 21 days and the mastermind behind VegNews' 2009 "Book of the Year" and New York Times bestseller, The Conscious Cook. In his book, Ronnen says that after becoming vegetarian, he “became obsessed with the idea of creating vegan food that was just as mouth-watering and delicious as anything I’d ever had as a meat-eater.”

A sneak peek into the Candle 79 kitchen

Well, all of that obsession certainly paid off! The meal was out of control with such offerings as celery root soup, quinoa with Belgium endive and oranges, and a mouth-watering banana cheesecake.

Quinoa with Belgium endive and oranges—absolutely delicious!

However, the star of the evening was the third course: a scaloppini dish made with scrumptious Gardein chick’n. As my dinner guests and I took a bite of this perfectly prepared entrée, we all agreed that Gardein is going to forever change the vegetarian culinary world. All in all, this inspired meal proved just how dynamic and artful plant-based cuisine really can be and left each of us assured that, without a doubt, vegan food will take over the world. (Insert evil laughter here.)